Grandma’s Homemade Vegetable Soup

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Grandma’s Homemade Vegetable Soup- Making soup from scratch is one of the first things a person should learn how to do when first learning to cook. In this post, I will show you how to make a comforting homemade vegetable soup recipe that is a great way to use up your garden bounty, and get more veggies in your diet!

Grandma’s Homemade Vegetable Soup

This recipe right here is the most important one on this blog, because this soup is where it all started. My love of scratch cooking and fresh produce can be traced back to this very dish. As far as this blog is concerned, this soup started it all.

This soup is very special to me. It was the very first thing I learned how to make as a child! My Grandmother taught me how to make this, and I have been making it often throughout my life.

You could say that this is my childhood in a bowl. My grandma was a very special person in my life, and I learned so much from her! She grew up on a farm and always had a big garden, and most of the vegetables we put in this soup when we made it together came from her garden, often freshly picked. 

As is often the case, this recipe did not start off as a recipe, it was done by feel, and by eyeballing a lot of things. As I got older, I cooked it enough on my own that I was able to formulate measurements to make it into an actual recipe.

Why You’ll Love This Soup

If you love vegetables, then my Grandmother’s vegetable soup recipe is for you! If you garden, have a CSA share, shop at the Farmers Market or honesty stand, or you just love hanging out in the produce section of your local grocery store, then you are going to like this a lot.

This is an easy soup to make, and you’ll find it is substantial enough on its own and it does not need the addition of meat.

My Grandma’s soup is one of those old soup recipes that doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. This is simple, homemade goodness at its most basic.

This also reheats well, and tastes even better the next day, and it is great for meal prep too.

Ingredients For Grandma’s Homemade Vegetable Soup

You won’t find anything exotic in this recipe. My Grandma grew up on a farm in rural Tennessee during the Great Depression. She was a lot more practical than fancy, and this country vegetable soup recipe is definitely practical, making use of a lot of garden veggies.

Olive Oil- I used olive oil here, but avocado or sunflower seed oil would work just as well.

Carrots- I like to peel them first, but if you are short on time you can skip this step.

Celery- What is soup without celery?

Onion- Plain old yellow onion is fine here.

Bell Pepper- I typically use green, but if you have another color feel free to use it.

Corn- I like it cut fresh off the cob, but you can use frozen here if you can’t find fresh. This post may be the only time you’ll ever see me saying to use frozen veggies haha!

Okra- My Grandma was a Southerner, so as you can well imagine okra would have to be included. Again, use frozen if fresh is unavailable.

Tomatoes- I use fresh tomatoes in this soup (my Grandma used canned). If you need to use canned tomatoes that’s ok!

Potatoes- Red or Yukon Gold are best here. They both hold up well to the cooking process. Don’t peel your potatoes! Flavor, flavor, flavor!

Green Cabbage- Definitely use green instead of purple. The Purple cabbage will turn the soup a strange color.

Salt and Pepper- You don’t need as much of these as you would think. All these veggies have so much flavor on their own.

Dried Parsley- As much as I love fresh herbs, this is one of the few times you’ll see me using dried herbs. The dried parsley stands up better to cooking.

Water- You don’t need to use vegetable stock. The veggies will release flavor into the water, making a flavorful broth.

How To Make Homemade Vegetable Soup

This is an easy recipe. The hardest part is chopping the veggies, which you could even do a day or so ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to cook.

1. Roast the tomatoes.
2. While the tomatoes are roasting, chop the rest of the vegetables.
3. Add the potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, onion, and celery to a stock pot with a little oil.
4. Add some salt and saute.
5. Next, add the corn and cabbage along with salt.
6. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and chop.
7. Put the okra and tomatoes in the pot with salt and pepper and dried parsley. 
8. Add water and bring to a boil. 
9. Turn down the heat and simmer until the veggies are tender.

How To Chop Vegetables For Soup

This is pretty easy! Here are a few tips and things to keep in mind:

1. Slice the roma tomatoes lengthwise into thirds or if they are large, into fourths.
2. Cut the fresh corn kernels off the cob.
3. Try to cut the different veggies into similar size pieces so that they all cook evenly. I try to keep my veggie pieces around ½ to ¾ inch in size.
4. You do not need to chop your vegetables in any particular order except for the tomatoes. You want to do those first so they can roast while you chop the rest.

How To Season Vegetable Soup

The seasoning here is simple: salt, pepper, and dried parsley. The vegetables really are the star here, and you can taste them all!

I like to season this in layers, adding salt with each addition of the vegetables. You get a really nice flavor that way.

How Can I Get More Flavor In My Vegetable Soup?

One modification I have made to this recipe is that I don’t use canned tomatoes the way my Grandma did. I use oven roasted tomatoes. 

While this might seem like more work, it’s really not. The tomatoes roast while you chop the rest of the veggies. All you do is pull them out of the oven and add them when they are ready!

Do You Have To Saute Vegetables Before Making Soup?

I highly recommend it, in fact I would say it’s crucial. It helps build flavor. I say if you are going to make something, it should taste good!

Recipe Variations

This recipe can change with your taste, mood, or the seasons. The vegetables you see listed here are the ones my Grandmother and I have always used to make this soup, but if there is something here you can’t find or don’t like, feel free to omit it. 

I don’t recommend using vegetables such as zucchini, broccoli, or eggplant in this soup. They will overcook and get mushy. If you would like to try any of these here, I would add them in the last five minutes of cooking so they don’t overcook.

If you want your okra crunchier, you can wait until the last minute to add it if you like.

How Long Can You Keep Homemade Vegetable Soup In The Fridge Before It Spoils?

In a container with a tight fitting lid, this soup will keep for up to a week. It reheats beautifully!

Can You Freeze Vegetable Soup?

Yes, I have frozen this soup many times. Simply freeze in large gallon freezer bags. When you are ready to use it, you can defrost it in the refrigerator or cut the bag off and put the block of frozen soup right into a soup pot (my Grandma did it this way) and reheat on medium low heat. If you freeze your vegetable soup, use it within a month.

What To Serve With Vegetable Soup

I love this all by itself, or with a big slab of cornbread. Sometimes, I’ll make a grilled cheese sandwich to go with it. Sandwiches of all types are great with this soup, and I love brownies for dessert!

Looking for other soup ideas? Head over to my Soups section for more recipes. Happy Cooking!

If you tried my Grandma’s homemade vegetable soup, I hope you love it! Feel free to share this recipe with friends on social media. If you have not signed up for my newsletter and free ebook, you can do that below. I hope you stop by again soon!